Bicycle.



Pafented Sept. 26, I899. E. A. BOLUS.

B l BY 0 L E.

(Application filed Oct. 21, 1897.)

(Ho Medal.)

31w entmz,

, PNOYO-LITMO" WASHINGTON. B4 c.

a bicycle embodying my invention.

NrrnD STATES Fries.

PAT NT BICYCLE.

.SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,784, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed October 21, 1897, Serial No, 655,914. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD ALEXANDER BoLUs, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing in the city of Hamilton, in the county of Wentworth, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

My invention relates to such construction of bicycles as to dispense with the ordinary pneumatic tires; and my invention consists in attaching two vertical parallel rods to the rear axle, connected at the top and provided with two cylinders in their central portion to slide on the rods and be pushed up by a spiral spring in each cylinder. The fork of the rear wheel is atfixed to the cylinders, and when the wheel strikes an obstruction it rises and rides over it without a jar. The same construction is applied to the fork of the front wheel, allowing it to rise and yield when meeting an obstruction on the road.

Reference being made to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side view of Fig. 2 is a section of the fork of the front wheel. Fig. 3 is a rear section of the fork of the hind wheel. Fig. 4 represents a cylinder with its projection; Fig. 5, front view of vertical rods and cross-bar detached; and Fig. 6 represents a detail view of one of the brace-bars j and the driving-shaft 0, on which its forward end is mounted, the sprocket-wheel having been removed therefrom.

In the drawings, A represents the front wheel; 13, the rear wheel; C C, two hollow vertical rods attached to the rear axle D, connected at the top by a bent cross-bar rod a, to fit the said vertical rods. The bent ends of the rod or are secured to the rods C C by being firmly inserted in the top of each of the vertical rods C C and held by set-screws e e, the use of which will be more fully explained hereinafter.

E E are two metallic cylinders, which are made to slide on the aforesaid vertical rods C C and are large enough to contain a spiral spring d in each, resting on a journal bottom or projection, and at the top each cylinder is cased in with a screw-cap), so that the springs can easily be got at to replace a worn one with a new one when necessary. The reciprocation of the rods C is so slight that the same will operate whether or not the cylinder E is exactly in the plane of the reciprocation. Each cylinder E will be provided with a projection g of the desired size to fit into the hollow ends of the rear fork h. The base of each of the vertical rods C C are formed with a projection e' for the purpose of loosely pivoting thereto the ends of the rear horizontal brace-barsjj for the purpose of allowing the parts free movement and enable the said vertical rods C C to always retain their perpendicularity, as they require to be always in that position. The forward end of each bracebar j is pivotally mounted on the driving.- shaft 0, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The fork 7t of the front wheel has its upper end surrounded with a cylinder Z, inclosing a spiral spring on around the fork, similar to the rear cylinders, so as to allow the front wheel A to rise and ride over an obstruction. The said cylinder constitutes the steering-head for the bicycle. It is also provided with a screwcap at the top, so as to remove the spring and change it when necessary the same as the rear cylinders.

The operation of the device may be described as follows: No spring is necessary immediately under the saddle or seat, and I dispense with the ordinary pneumatic rubber tires, as I get all the elasticity necessary by the springs inside of the cylinders, as when the front wheel strikes an obstruction it rises with the fork 70, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, until the obstruction is passed and the spiral spring inthe cylinder Zpushes it down again. The rear wheel B when meeting an obstruction acts in the same manner. It rises on account of the fork h bein g connected to the two cylinders containing spiral springs and falls again when the obstruction is passed, the springs 01 d in the cylinders also giving the necessary seat and tires elasticity without the ordinary seat-springs or pneumatic tires without altering the reach.

My tire may be made of light gutta-percha fitted onto a wood rim and adapted to wheels as required, but upon which I claim nothing.

Having thus described my device and its advantages, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with the Wheels and frame of the bicycle, the fork a of the rear wheel having forward projections i on the lower ends of its lower rod 0, the two horizontal bars j pivoted at their rear ends to said projections, a driving-shaft on which the forward ends of the said bars are pivoted, a pair of cylinders E sliding on the rods C of the said fork, springs within the said cylinders,

; resisting the relative mot-ion of the latter and i rods 0, and connections between the said j cylinders and the frame, substantially as set 15 fort 1.

l Dated at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, this i 27th day of September, A. D. 1897.

l EDWARD ALEXANDER BOLUS.

i In presence ofi PERCY WEBBER,

l WM. BRUCE. 

